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Slink-e / CDJ Discussion Archive #2

Slink-e Firmware Feature Request

Posted By: James <jamesmil_ms@h...>
Date: Wednesday, 21 October 1998, at 1:44 p.m.

I've discovered a feature that I really wish the Slink-e had, and thought I'd ask how hard it would be to implement.

Briefly: I'd like to be able to store Event:Actions in the Slink-e firmware, so that when a specific command is received, the slink-e can issue another command (or perhaps commands?).

Background: As I think some others on this list have, I just purchased sony's new STR-50ES amplifier, which has a new touchscreen remote. Without going into to much detail, it is a fantastic amp, and a 50% cool remote. On the cool side, it can download Disk and Track memos from my CDP-220 from and display them on the remote while the discs are playing. It is quite PalmPilot like in that you have a little pen to use to select things. Unfortunately it is very un-cool in a couple of respects: 1) it is not a learning remote, and it has an extrodiarally limited set of commands for some devices (for example, it does not have the Jerrold Cable Box, used by like 60% of the country). Also, it doesn't pass the "wife-factor" in a lot of respects. When I turn on the TV, the amp should come on and select the TV input, but it does not.

However, I've come to the conclusion that the slink-e can be the answer to all the shortcomings of the remote. If I had a dedicated computer attached to the slink-e (which I don't yet), I could write a program that waited for commands to come across one of the busses, ir0, sl0, etc. If a command comes across, it could be checked out, and if it matches something we are interested in, a new command could be issued, perhaps on a different bus. Here are some examples:

ir0:SonyTV(Power) -> sl0:SonyAmp(PowerOn), sl0:SonyAmp(Input5)
ir0:SonyTV(mute) -> sl0:SonyAmp(Mute)
ir0:ToshTV(ch+) -> ir0:Jerrold(ch+)
...etc

The third example would be used where I could assign a User input on my remote to be a ToshibaTV (which I don't have), and then have the slink-e "translate" the commands from that tv to the cablebox.

So I could probably write an application today using the ActiveX control to do this, but since I don't yet keep a computer on all the time there, it won't do much good. Instead, I'm wondering if this functionality could be incorporated into the slink-e firmware. I know that right now the firmware will allow for IR-routing, would this be much harder to do? That way, this basic functionally could be programmed by something like CDJ, and be usable regardless of whether a computer was attached and running.

What do you think?
-james

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